After a week in which Grigor Dimitrov has been the man in the middle of the unseemly spat between his girlfriend, Maria Sharapova, and the women's No1, Serena Williams, he must have been glad of the diversion of a second-round match on Wimbledon's Court Three. But, of course, he could not completely escape the first week's most human drama.

Sharapova, elegant in dark brown top and darker brown sunglasses, was perched above him, clapping, cajoling, studying, seemingly as engrossed in his battle with the Slovenian Grega Zemlja as he was. When he slipped, as he did on four occasions, she was with him in voice and gesture. The photographers were courtside to record it all. A few even photographed the tennis.

It is Dimitrov's curse, perhaps, to be cast as the love interest, blessed with the Hollywood features of a young Clark Gable because, racket in hand, the 22-year-old Bulgarian – ranked No31 in the world – acquits himself notably well. He is known for his associations with Sharapova and Williams, of course, with whom it is said he had an earlier relationship.

He has also been approvingly compared to Roger Federer – the consequence of a Federer-like one-handed backhand, his love of the slice, a well-crafted serve and his willingness to construct points in a fashion to please the purists. This is not the Roger fully formed, for Dimitrov is not yet that, but as a kind of Roger in gestation. They call him Baby Fed.

And he looked the part at the beginning of his rain-interrupted five-set encounter with Zemlja, the world No55. He was fresh, inventive, aggressive. Everything about Dimitrov's classically pleasing game seemed to gel. With the rolling, looping backhand – the style more open than that of Federer – he seemed able to dictate the early points. He fizzed forehand drives deep from the baseline. At every half opportunity he headed for the net. He broke Zemlja's serve at the first time of asking and within seven minutes he was 3-0 ahead. When his opponent recovered from a slow start to force two break points at 4-2, Dimitrov stayed calm and aggressive, served cleverly with pace and kick and held. After 30 minutes he took the first set 6-3.

But within a few minutes of the second set Zemlja banished any idea that he would be a bystander in an exhibition by Baby Fed. The Slovenian's serve, hard and flat and mostly directed down the middle, warmed up.

Dimitrov had trouble handling it. Games went with serve but there had been a clear change in the balance of power. The two men swapped drives from the baseline. There were fewer trips to the net but one notable moment of artistry from Dimitrov at 5-4 down. Driven wide by a fierce forehand, he sliced a deft volley at an acute angle, leaving Zemlja stranded.

But as the set progressed, the crowd began to see why the Federer comparison seems premature. Williams apparently described Dimitrov as the guy with the "black heart" and a deal more ruthlessness on court would do his game a world of good. Chances were created without the resolution commonly contrived by the likes of Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. Three break points came and went at 5-5 and, consequently, the two men wrestled to the tie-break.

Zemlja, by now taking risks, hitting lines and serving like a howitzer, took it 7-4. And that became a pattern. Dimitrov, having summoned the trainer for strapping on his right ankle, reverted to a more basic game, reacting to Zemlja who drove his forehand deep with commendable regularity. At 3-2 Dimitrov broke the Zemlja serve. That gave him the set, a 2-1 lead and Sharapova's obvious approval.

But by the fourth his failure to grab the chances he created against a re-energised opponent were costing him dear. He spurned two break points in the third game and another six in the fifth. His backhand, though pleasing, lacked penetration and he seemed reluctant to take the risks that might end longer exchanges.

As the set dragged on, Zemlja seemed stronger and Dimitrov started to tire, a development noted by the Slovenian who ran him side to side along the baseline and watched the replies fly long and wide. At 6-4 they were level.

The deciding set followed that trajectory, with Zemlja winning the longer duels and Dimitrov replying on his serve for parity. Having looked the more likely winner for so long, the Bulgarian was forced to serve four times to save the match, fending off two match points at 6-7. When the rain took hold at 8-9 Dimitrov, facing the prospect of having to do so again, looked the keener to get away. Sharapova and her entourage were almost as speedy, as the fallen No3 seed escaped the drizzle. Down but not quite out, Baby Fed lives to fight another day.